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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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Author: 1271941

August 11, 1942 (Tuesday)

August 11, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Found a note from Andregg (VP-44) telling me to call a Mr. Al Lewis, and to see him…

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 10, 1942 (Monday)

August 10, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Left Johnston at 0930. Ran into a severe storm on the way home — 150 miles thick. Was…

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 9, 1942 (Sunday)

August 9, 2017 1271941

Johnston Island Flew hundred mile square all day. Got word that we go home to Pearl tomorrow.

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 8, 1942 (Saturday)

August 8, 2017 1271941

Johnston, Island Moffett pulled out for Palmyra this morning while I was conducting an anti-sub patrol over a convoy coming…

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 7, 1942 (Friday)

August 7, 2017 1271941

Johnston Island Started an X-shaped patrol but was forced back to the island by the failure of both my generators.…

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 6, 1942 (Thursday)

August 6, 2017 1271941

Johnston, Island Jackson and I let Lathrop and Pojonus, respectively, take the planes (51-P-10 and 51-P-5 (mine)) out on short…

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 5, 1942 (Wednesday)

August 5, 2017 1271941

Johnston Island Long patrol south. Nothing. Bergstrasser tried to drown me in coffee.

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 4, 1942 (Tuesday)

August 4, 2017 1271941

Johnston Island Short patrol. Let McKenzie run it while I went along only as drift sight operator. The “kanaka” workmen…

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 3, 1942 (Monday)

August 3, 2017 1271941

Johnston, Island 500 mile patrol southwest. Nothing. Lost $17 at poker, so I’m now flat broke.

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 2, 1942 (Sunday)

August 2, 2017 1271941

Johnston Island 200 mile patrol today. We navigated without the aid of celestial or chart — pure dead reckoning, and…

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Posted in: August, 1942

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A secret for 75 years

Kailua resident James Claire Nolan kept a secret most of his life. A Navy pilot during World War II, he kept a detailed diary and drew pictures throughout the conflict, a practice frowned upon by security-minded authorities. When he died in the early 1990s, he entrusted the pages to his friend and military historian Burl Burlingame of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Burlingame is now Historian at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum.

Trained as a navy bomber pilot, Nolan was rushed to the Dutch East Indies as war broke out and returned to Pearl Harbor, where he was pressed into service flying PBY “Catalina” flying boats on patrol.

Later, Nolan served with distinction at the battle of Midway, on Guadalcanal and became the personal pilot for Vice Adm. Aubrey Fitch. Nolan said his proudest moment came when in the summer of ’43 he discovered the slowly sinking bow of USS Helena, sheared off by a Japanese torpedo several days before and covered with desperate survivors. He stuck with the ship until help arrived.

After the war, Nolan joined the US Air Force and continued to fly. In civilian life, he was a historian at Hickam Air Force Base.

We are publishing these diary entries exactly 75 years to the day after these pages were written. Except for very minor spelling and grammatical updates, they are as written — including observations that may seem not “politically correct” these days. It is a look into the mindset of a young man fighting a war across a vast ocean.

This site will remain active for five years. It is sponsored by historical-interpretation company Pacific Monograph.

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